You might excuse Bournemouth supporters for being ecstatic after defeating the Premier League winners, but Manchester City is rarely the target of such a song. Andoni Iraola’s side will need to line up based on this proof.
The Blues’ first league loss of the season served as a reminder of how badly they are doing. Pep Guardiola and his team lost to Spurs in the cup midweek, ending their undefeated record. If anyone was inclined to proclaim the championship battle dead following Arsenal’s midday loss to Newcastle, City never seemed to be willing to give that point any weight, even if they lost 2-1 with a consolation goal from Josko Gvardiol.
The home team did not necessarily want it more but did run harder for it, which is again not something you often associate with a Guardiola team. It was a clumsy effort from City that earned them exactly what they deserved. The manager showed considerable displeasure on the touchline, although even he was controlled in his depiction of the team’s current struggles.
Guardiola has been more and more irritated with an injury list that does not seem to be getting better. The manager of City has emphasized this week that his players must play despite their injuries, but even if Jeremy Doku, Kyle Walker, and Kevin De Bruyne rejoined the team for Bournemouth, John Stones and Ruben Dias were added to the list of absentees.
However, there is not much that can be done because City is not the first club to suffer injuries, and it is made worse by the fact that they purposefully keep their roster small because that is what Guardiola wants. According to a newly released data, the players have averaged more than 60 games every season since 2018. In addition, four of the top 10 City players—Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan, and Ederson—started at the Vitality, so this is at least nothing new.
However, that still makes it difficult to traverse, particularly on a rainy day on the south coast against a Bournemouth team that has previously triumphed against Arsenal here this season. Iraola has elevated them to a new level, and it was no surprise that Bournemouth was celebrating the first goal shortly after Ederson made a double save in the second minute.
To the pleasure of the home crowd, Milos Kerkez blasted past Foden, and Antoine Semenyo managed to hold off Josko Gvardiol before turning and putting the ball in the far corner. The City players were only that vital split-second behind the speed, but they could not use that as an excuse.
This season, City is accustomed to falling behind, and one of their greatest assets lately has been their ability to wait for their chances and score when it counts. At Bournemouth, there were indications of that, but as has frequently happened this season, it has taken City longer to dismantle a team than to be broken. As soon as any encouraging foundations were established, they were destroyed in one or two Bournemouth passes.
When one wave of City’s second-half pressure broke down and Walker quickly gave up possession to Semenyo, then fouled him and punched the ball in fury, it said a lot. Guardiola gestured to his bench, but Nathan Ake was unable to continue, even if Rico Lewis came in.
It seemed like a day when City’s bucket had too many holes to prevent it from overflowing, as they were already behind 2-0 by the time Evanilson headed in a cross from Kerkez halfway through the second half.
During a tense injury time, the taunting from Bournemouth subsided, and Gvardiol added to his arsenal of spectacular goals with a tremendous header to provide interest to the last fifteen minutes. City probably would not have had the energy to broadcast whatever objections they might have had about the game.